Most Trojan students may not know about the special second mascot in this school—brought to every game, supporting our women’s softball team, is Gary the Guitar.

Gary is the brain-child of sophomores Tatum Wilson and Zoe Caryl, an idea that sparked when the Lil’ Nas’ remix of “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus had played on the bus on a trip with the girls.

“When it said ‘buy myself a brand new guitar,” Wilson said, “It sounded like ‘geetar’ and I thought it was so funny. It kind of became an inside joke, so we became the geetar gang.”

Wilson had an old guitar she was going to sell, but discovered the perfect opportunity given their new joke. She brought it to a game, and Gary had been a tradition ever since.

“I love Gary,” Caryl said. “If you get on base we have a cheer saying you get a guitar, and Tatum and the others will just aggressively play him. He’s just kind of a team-bond.”

“We rally off of each other really well,” Wilson said. “We have a great freshman pitcher and amazing leadership from all of the seniors. We all mix really well together!”

The girl’s softball team is currently 13-3, with to games remaining against Emporia and Shawnee Heights next week.

“Our future is bright and we’ve turned the team around from last year’s record. We may have a chance to go to state, and that’s exciting,” Caryl said.